Why the iPhone 6 Camera Beats the 1020

I viewed the Iceland photo shoot and I don't see much noise to speak of. The detail, the colors, and the focusing was superb though. The Verge may be biased in some ways, but they didn't mess with the photos and they we're great.

Also Phonearena isn't biased, they've done a comparison of the 1520 to the iPhone 6's camera, and guess what? iPhone won in most aspects.

I agree with you here to a point, but it's still hard to take them seriously when they dock the 1520 for a feature that works simply because they didn't know about it (Directional Stereo). Overall, it's a relatively decent comparison of the default behaviors of a wide range of devices, which is good, but any hack can half-*** something. They shouldn't be baffled by stuff like that.

I viewed the Iceland photo shoot and I don't see much noise to speak of. The detail, the colors, and the focusing was superb though. The Verge may be biased in some ways, but they didn't mess with the photos and they we're great.

Also Phonearena isn't biased, they've done a comparison of the 1520 to the iPhone 6's camera, and guess what? iPhone won in most aspects.

By the way, if you look that Anandtech review - they are comparing focus and shot latencies by MILLISECONDS (ms) - it makes it look great as a comparison, but honestly, we are not living by milliseconds in a real life ...

The OP has a point. Quick on-to-shoot time matters in most cases. However, when I'm taking pictures with my 1020, it's all about patience and getting the shot. Spontaneous shot? I'll go to my 1520 or 930.

For me, in the end, it boils down to using the right tool for the job.

It is easy to change a default camera app in WP - I am usually using Nokia Camera app, because of all great features, but if I need some quick photos, I will use Camera (MS) app as a default camera app (much faster and has burst too) ... or you can use just 5 MP capture mode of Nokia Camera, which allow much faster shot to shot too (like suggested By Kunal Jain586) ....

iPhone nighttime shots are way more noisy than the Lumias. Probably tuned for users who want a non-blurry (faster) shot with higher ISO. I'd expect the phone to use the accelerometer as part of choosing the ISO - if the phone is moving you can speed up the shot... heck, that almost sounds patentable.

Usability wise the iPhone is now ahead of the curve with a fast UI and great panorama mode. Again, hopefully Denim and the new camera app update will add some speed and maybe simplify some functions.

In the 80X series CPUs there are dedicated DSPs for image processing, so hopefully Microsoft are working on getting the most of those...

There is no doubt we need Denim quickly to catch up a little, if not in pure image quality, in the whole perceived usability areas.

Hahaha... So much about trying not to be biased and get comments about being an iSheep, seriously.

Sometimes, we must learn to give credit to people who have done things well, and not blindly praise whatever you like. You say that Lumia 1020 is light years ahead. Not sure that you're sober but those tech existed in other cameras way before that. The only difference is that its in a smaller package.

Though this is WPCentral, I hope to see people not being too biased about their decision making.

P.S sooner or later somebody is going to bring in the price of both devices into the thread. (shrugs)

The 6 may possibly be better in processing its images, but I highly doubt it would beat the Lumia 1020's raw images. Seriously, it's a bigger sensor. Dynamic range is pretty good, you can recover tons of detail from high lights and from the shadows. I think these two cameras suit two different types of shooters. I feel like we're comparing a medium format camera (lumia 1020) vs a crop sensor body (iphone 6). Sure, the 6 is faster, quicker for shots, quicker for people who like street photography, but the 1020 excels in the latter, such as stills like landscapes and detailed pictures. The quality of the 1020 is most closest to a dslr, and is more comfortable to shoot with. As a photographer myself, the camera button feels much more at home on the 1020, while the typical mobile phone camera button is lack luster on the iphone 6. I found the 1020 suits me better than the iphone 6 because I'm more of the decisive moment type of person, who can decide when it is the proper time the release the shutter, rather than taking a picture, and then chimping on the screen to see if it's a keeper or not, and shooting again. I do chimp for landscapes though...i have issues...

Hahaha... So much about trying not to be biased and get comments about being an iSheep, seriously.

Sometimes, we must learn to give credit to people who have done things well, and not blindly praise whatever you like. You say that Lumia 1020 is light years ahead. Not sure that you're sober but those tech existed in other cameras way before that. The only difference is that its in a smaller package.

Though this is WPCentral, I hope to see people not being too biased about their decision making.

P.S sooner or later somebody is going to bring in the price of both devices into the thread. (shrugs)

I don't think that you're looking at the photographs with a photographers eye. Just as you say it's biased here towards windows phone, I think you're biased towards iPhone. And that's all good, but I can say that an while the new iPhones take nice pictures, they are not DSLR level in color saturation, dynamic range, contrast, and overall image quality like the Lumia 1020 is, absolutely not.

Call me biased if you will, but I'm not sure that you've seen properly exposed and framed photographs from each device, same subject and same field of view to make that judgement.

I don't think that you're looking at the photographs with a photographers eye. Just as you say it's biased here towards windows phone, I think you're biased towards iPhone. And that's all good, but I can say that an while the new iPhones take nice pictures, they are not DSLR level in color saturation, dynamic range, contrast, and overall image quality like the Lumia 1020 is, absolutely not.

Call me biased if you will, but I'm not sure that you've seen properly exposed and framed photographs from each device, same subject and same field of view to make that judgement.

I agree, the iPhone is no "DSLR" in color saturation, dynamic range, contrast, and overall image quality. Absolutely not. Totally limited by its minute sensor.

"like the Lumia 1020"

I have to disagree with this. The Lumia 1020 is not exceptional at all, except that it manages to pack in a slightly larger (OK, significantly in a camera sense) sensor in a smartphone, that causes it to have an advantage. But it seemed to lose that advantage to its post processing and exposure/focus. Are you seriously treating a 1/1.5 sensor to a crop sensor or even a full frame? That's downright disgusting.

Honestly speaking, I can't see how I'm being biased. I merely pointed out that Apple done a great job at post processing algorithms and good at creating photographs pleasant to the eye. Am I wrong in any way? If so, please enlighten me, I would LOVE to hear why you disagree with me.

hes actually right about nexus 5,its really slow to focus and i often get blurred shots on mine too

I doubt most ranters like this who say lumias are slow to open camera app,slow shutter speed etc have used the MS Camera app
Nokia camera and Proshot offer more customisation but are slow to open and slow shutter speed but its because customisations often include change in focus,aperture ,iso,shutter speed etc and these programs are heavy
As a person who has photography as part of his course ,I must say the iphone 6 certainly does have a high shutter speed but its not that much faster than the 1020
the iphone 6 is often oversaturated and washed out
the nexus 5 and 1020 take more natural photos and are phenomenal in low light

i still think the 1020 is the best camera phones out there and despite its flaws like slight overheating near the sensor,poor battery life(compared to other lumias of course,still better than some other phones),lack of SD card slot
Its certainly no DSLR replacement but its certainly the king of point and shoots and some older SLRs and DSLRs

Originally Posted by salmanahmad

I viewed the Iceland photo shoot and I don't see much noise to speak of. The detail, the colors, and the focusing was superb though. The Verge may be biased in some ways, but they didn't mess with the photos and they we're great.

Also Phonearena isn't biased, they've done a comparison of the 1520 to the iPhone 6's camera, and guess what? iPhone won in most aspects.

Dude, I appreciate your review but you just walked in to a lion's den covered in meat. These people don't take criticism well even if it might mean Microsoft/Nokia improving their cameras in response to Apple's achievement. amrut's photos are really spectacular but photography isn't just about making the person stand there for a couple seconds, it's about those truly spontaneous and special shots that you get just at the spur of the moment. When I had my 920, it was touted as superior low-light but it failed in most things, speed included. Then the images came through processing as a blur and a great camera sensor is something I look for in a cell phone. That along with completely missing some possibly incredible and memorable shots sucked because it was just too damn slow was rough. I gave up on Microsoft sometime ago so I haven't used the 1520 but I think I can suspect what you mean by that delay.

However I can comment on the amount of time it takes to focus using the 6. Wow, it's fast, I mean instant and things really do come out looking great. You just have to choose which phone fits your photography style more.

amrut, if I were you, I'd seriously stop calling people with differing opinions sheep and to take the tinfoil hat off and stop thinking everyone is paid off by Apple because honestly, the OP isn't the one coming off as a flaming fanboy, it's you. You can disagree but stop acting like a raging child. It doesn't matter if your phone has superior specs, in the end it doesn't mean anything if you didn't get the shot you wanted.

And now to read up on why the 1520 camera fails in comparison to the 1020. Excuse me.

comparing the iPhone 6 against the 1020 is like comparing a handgun against a shotgun: it's easier and faster to use a handgun but it won't beat the shotgun in terms of power

I gotta say, the shotgun is definitely not for everyone to use...

anyway, Microsoft would really lose it if they're not going to release the 1030 anytime soon... because the best camera that runs Windows Phone in near future will be Lumia 930/1520 on Denim update and "tech people" will bash it for using a more-than-one-year-old processor

comparing the iPhone 6 against the 1020 is like comparing a handgun against a shotgun: it's easier and faster to use a handgun but it won't beat the shotgun in terms of power

I gotta say, the shotgun is definitely not for everyone to use...

anyway, Microsoft would really lose it if they're not going to release the 1030 anytime soon...
because the best camera that runs Windows Phone in near future will be Lumia 930/1520 on Denim update and "tech people" will bash it for using a more-than-one-year-old processor

I hope you don't mean that the image is pixelated like a shotgun's ;) J/K I agree, too many people nowadays look at specs and not the overall experience. The camera is definitely Nokia's strong suit and they need to really keep up. Not only that but really start putting work into the OS to make it great. Windows OS is definitely a colorful and fun OS that could capture the hearts of many. If Microsoft showed real work then it might make me and others who abandoned the platform buy another device and dual-wield again

iPhone 6 does'nt beat the 1020, but it fulfills what you need. iPhone 6 suits you.

I agree 1020 is slow at startup and shot to shot, but it comes nowhere near 1020's territory.
I can bet you cannot capture these shots with iPhone with atmost no noise.
Physics and Hardware always wins bro.

the Day I am able to capture these kind of images on iPhone i am sold,
1020 pushes the limit for a camera on a smartphone, gives you that flexibility and the RAW is just a Boon to it.
For and avg person iphone camera mite be good, but for me I will keep the 1020.

I'm sorry that I sparked such a huge debate among you people and I apologise for doing so.

My point wasn't that the iPhone was better than a 1020 in all aspects. I'm pretty those of you enthusiasts out there, who like taking control over your photos can definitely take better photos than any iPhone ever released.

But what you guys have to realise is that not everyone will be willing to shoot in RAW and then later tweak the white balance to fine tune the image, and not everyone will want to change the shutter speed, exposure and ISO to get a photo each and every time.

The majority of people want to take a great photo and do it fast, be it taking a photo of train that is passing by, a plane, a cute kid on the street, an animal, and so on...

Both the MS Camera and Nokia Camera are slow in comparison to the iPhone, much slower to focus and much slower to shot a photo, and taking a burst is out of the question unless you want to sacrifice a massive amount of detail.

But apart from speed I find that the iPhone has a pretty reliable software experience, it does well with colors, it does well with noise management, the ISO can drop to 32(very useful), and the mode switching and filters are also great.

Speed is the main point I am trying to emphasise here, but it's not the only thing that makes the iPhone 6's camera great.

And add to that that the true tone flash, a combination of the regular LED flash and an amber one, has way more natural color a than the 1020 which casts a yellowish hue many times for me.

For the majority of consumers it'll be much easier to take a better photo with the iPhone rather than the 1020.

And even Daniel Rubino admitted that when he went to a concert(if I am not wrong) he had a much better time snapping with the iPhone than the much slower Lumia 1020.

And while the camera stills are debatable the 1020 simply can't compete with the iPhone in video recording, nor can it take photos while recording video, it can't record above 30 FPS and there is no slow-mo or timelapse.

I'm not an Apple fanboy, and I'll gladly switch to a 1020 successor if it opens camera faster, has a better auto focusing system(laser or phase detection), processes shots faster, and can take decently detailed bursts.

Originally Posted by Karthik Naik

hes actually right about nexus 5,its really slow to focus and i often get blurred shots on mine too

I've contacted the person who I bought the Nexus 5 off from eBay and he told me that he was selling the Nexus for cheap because of the faulty autofocus. He told me that Google is offering replacements now for any damaged Nexus 5, no matter what.

All that needs to be said/shown. I have yet to see images better than these from any iPhone/other phone. Nokia's pureview cameras are the best in the phone "arena", Hands down.PUREVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY - HOME